Seeing to the escalating government shutdown crisis, the Director of CDC; Thomas Frieden said, “We are less safe. If there is an outbreak of food borne illness that affects people in multiple States, we may not be able to identify it promptly.”

Already a staggering number of people have been reportedly sick due to food borne illness. There have been over 270 confirmed cases of flu and traces of salmonella in raw chicken (thanks to the guys at Foster Farms). A majority of these illnesses have been identified at locations in California. Members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that they are working with CDC authorities to help reduce the lingering theat.

However, the government shutdown issue is making it very difficult to get things going on towards a peaceful resolution. So far no recall has been issued regarding the case of salmonella. The center of Disease Control is busy monitoring viral and bacterial outbreak through extensive sampling and lab work all over the country. The shutdown is putting human health and public welfare to danger.

So far, a handful of staff members have been called back to work. CBS News correspondents have tried to contact CDC representatives, but a response has not been received yet. Through his Twitter account, Thomas Frieden said, “CDC had to furlough 8,754 people. They protected you yesterday, can’t tomorrow. Microbes/ other threats didn’t shutdown. We are less safe.”

The shutdown is capable of severely impacting an average citizen’s health because early days of flu season are already upon us. CDC flu webpage states, “Support for outbreak investigations and response to public queries regarding influenza circulation and prevention will be limited during this time.”

The country awaits Congress’ decision to turn the lights back on as soon as possible.

Hello everyone, I am Bilal Malik AKA 'Casey Nolan'; Head Editor and owner of 'Infinarium.Com'. For product reviews, article requests, recommendations, or if you just want to get something off your chest, send me an email at techguy@infinarium.com.